Jonny Wilkinson gears up to take on French

For the first time, Jonny Wilkinson has admitted that there may be a life for him beyond rugby.

While he was recovering from his injuries, he was trying to improve his French and now he has decided he wants to go to university to study languages.

"I'd definitely like to study French and Spanish," he said. "I like French because it is an attractive-sounding language."

The England rugby hero has no immediate plans to quit the game he has loved since the age of four but he has already picked Durham University as the place where he would like to study.

Seven years ago, at the age of 18, he was offered a place at Durham after doing A-levels in biology, chemistry and French but turned it down in favour of a two-year contract with the Newcastle Falcons which eventually led to a place in the England rugby team.

This week, he had a chance to contemplate student life when he visited the university for his latest promotional fashion shoot for Hackett, the upmarket menswear chain.

Sportingly, he struck a decadent Brideshead Revisited pose in classic gentlemen's striped pyjamas and tweed jacket, with a teddy bear stuffed in the pocket. "If I'd gone to Durham immediately after school, I probably would have done a sports-related BA," he said.

"Now I'm older, I know it would be very different.

"I don't know if I could blend in but part of me responds to that chance of being anonymous in a crowd.

"I'd like to enjoy the experience of learning properly. It might not be till I'm 35. There's a lot of factors I'd have to consider - whether I can still dominate the game, whether I'll still be good enough or whether I feel I'm halting the progress of younger ones."

He said he felt fortunate because rugby had given him the chance to visit France, Spain and other foreign destinations.

"But you don't really have days off to see these places in a more relaxed atmosphere," he said.

"I'd like to spend some time there, be able to converse openly, take in the culture."

He has spent part of his recovery time from injuries - in between his four comebacks to the game - studying and reading books and newspapers in French.

"I try and get by without a dictionary but I do use it every now and then," he said.

Since kicking England to victory at the 2003 World Cup, Wilkinson has been plagued with career-threatening shoulder and neck injuries.

These were followed by an arm injury and, most recently, a knee complaint. But he is now back on the pitch and "fighting fit and in better shape than ever before", he says.

Eight days ago, he scored six penalties in the Falcons' Zurich Premiership victory over London Irish.

If he comes unscathed through tomorrow's match against Gloucester and England's game against the Barbarians on May 28, he stands a good change of being called into the British and Irish Lions squad for the upcoming tour of New Zealand.

"I feel very good at the moment," he said. "Before these injuries, I didn't think too much about the future. Now, I'm much more aware of how long I've got and how long I have to achieve what I want."